World War I1914-1918

It was a gorgeous sunny morning in Sarajevo as Archduke Francis Ferdinand and
his beautiful wife Sophie left an Austrian troop exercise and began their
motorcade through the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the
warning that a rebellion was in the air, The Archduke and his wife decided to
tour the capital on their way to a reception at city hall.

Unbeknownst to the Royal Party and their entourage, the Serbian terrorist party,
the Black Hand, had plotted to assassinate Ferdinand. Seven Serbian assassins
were strategically located throughout the town, each waiting for the opportunity
to eliminate the Archduke before he had the opportunity to ascend to the throne
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from where he could continue to persecute the
Serbs who were living within the Austro-Hungarian regions.

Having gained their independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878 the Serbs
settled into the regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The fires of anger were lit
when the Berlin Congress allowed Austria-Hungary to occupy the regions,
including those settled by the Serbs. To further antagonize the Serbs, in 1908,
Austria-Hungary authoritatively annexed all of occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Motorcade continued its journey through the Bosnian streets oblivious to the
fact that they were targets for the Black Hand. Eventually, as was hoped, the
motorcade traveled a street where one of the assassins had been placed. Upon
seeing the convoy, Gabrinovic singled out the Royal car and tossed an explosive
device. The driver quickly applied the gas; the Archduke deflected the bomb,
sending it to the car behind where it exploded, demolishing the following sedan
and severely injuring his aides.

The remaining 5 cars then sped towards city hall passing other members of the
terrorist group, who let the convoy pass safely by. Following the reception at
city hall it was time for the Archduke and Archduchess to leave the town of
Sarajevo. General Oskar Potiorik urged Ferdinand and his escorts to leave the
city as quickly as they could and by the shortest route possible.

Alarmed by the General's intense warning the motorcade quickly left city hall
and headed out of town back to the site of the military maneuvers. The cars
quickly sped through the city streets until it came to the "V" like turn at the
bridge spanning the Nilgacka River. To safely negotiate the sharp turn the cars
had to slow considerably, offering the assassins the opportunity they so
desired.

Nineteen year-old Serb Nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, stepped from the curb, drew
his automatic pistol and fired, The first round striking the pregnant
Archduchess Sophie in the abdomen, killing her instantly. The second bullet
struck the Archduke near his heart, moments after crying out to "Sophie" he too,
succumbed to his injury.

The already strained relationship between Austria-Hungary and Serbia had now
been snapped into the fragments of war. The ensuing Great War was said to be the
War to end all Wars and would become the most destructive war in modern history.
Following the June 28, 1914 assassination of the Archduke and his wife,
Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia. Almost as quickly the diplomatic
relationships began to turn to dust.

With the unconditional backing of Germany assured by Emperor William II,
Austrian foreign minister, Count Leopold von Berchtold, determined to use the
assassination to once and for all squash the Serbian Nationalist movement,
issued an ultimatum to Serbia with a 48 hour clause. Serbia, assured of Russian
support by Sergei Sazonov, refused to acknowledge the ultimatum thus inciting
Austria to declare war on Serbia.

On July 28, 1914 the theater was set and World War I was under way. By the 31st
of July the Russian military had began to mobilize its troops. This action
infuriated Germany who issued an ultimatum to the Russian Government. Russia,
who had already promised to support Serbia, ignored the correspondence and on
August 1, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia.

Following the declaration of war on Russia, Germany had convinced itself that
France had been preparing her troops for an attack along its Western Front that
the German Government declared war on France. Germany, wanting to get her troops
to engage the French as quickly as possible took advantage of Britain's
neutrality by sending her troops through Belgium and Luxembourg. This violation
so enraged the people of Britain that they throw their support to the British
government whom then choose to enter World War I.

Within a matter of weeks the allied forces were composed of Monknegegro, Japan,
Great Britain, France, Russia, Serbia and Belgium. The Central Powers were
comprised of the Ottoman Empire, Germany and Austria- Hungary. These military
forces were to become engaged in the most costly and aggressively fought battles
in military history.

From the deeply dug trenches, one side would peer over at the other and then all
hell would break loose as each side tried to over-run the position of the other.
Each assault brought the death toll higher and higher as the troops were met
with rapid machine gun fire, mortars, hand-grenades and the most fatal of all
elements; poison gas, which the German Army had first used against the Canadians
at Ypres, Belgium.

As the war raged on with heavy death toll, the United States was striving to
remain neutral. Perhaps America was attempting to follow the advice offered by
President George Washington's 1776 farewell address, where he urged the United
States to remain out of the affairs of Europe, and to steer clear of any
alliance with any part of the foreign world.

America and her desire to remain neutral would soon be tested when in May of
1915 a German U-boat sunk the Lusitania as she slowed to await the arrival of
the Juno, which was to escort her from the English Channel. Following the
sinking of the Lusitania, Germany has issued a warning that they would utilize
unrestricted submarine warfare to sink any and all merchant ships, crew and
content.

Seething with rage at the sinking of the Lusitania, the American populace was
now urging for the U.S. Government to justify the hideous act, which cost 138
Americans their lives. President Woodrow Wilson issued a protest to Germany, who
temporarily suspended their sub-campaign fearing that they did not have enough
subs to do the job if America decided to enter the war at that time.

By 1917Germany had increased her submarine force substantially and feeling that
they no longer needed to fear the U.S., once again declared unrestricted
submarine warfare, and that this time all ships, including those of neutral
America would fall prey. This proclamation plucked at the final nerve of America
and on April 6th she declared war on Germany.

By inciting the Americans into the war, Germany had in essence slit her own
throat. The allied forces, which had been taking a severe beating and were
nearing submission to the Central Powers, were now assured a victory as America
offered unlimited resources and manpower. President Wilson planned to weaken the
Central Powers even further by encouraging revolutionary groups to take action
in their hometowns.

While the Western Front became locked in a bloody stalemate, the forces of the
Middle East were making great progress in their push forward. The British troops
not only stopped the Turkish assault on the Suez Canal they pushed even further
and destroyed the Ottoman Empire.

Germany, obsessed with getting into Paris attempted a second counteroffensive
strike at Marne, their strike met with heavy resistance and the German troops
were stopped before they could enter Paris. In response, Marshal Foch regrouped
his soldiers and and issued the command for a counter-attack which succeeded in
pushing the German army back to the Hindenberg Line.

With the initial counterattack effective the allies continued the push with the
British advancing in the north and the Americans attacking through the Argonne
region of France. The determination of the battling allies was beginning to
soften the Central Powers. The Germans were quickly loosing their hold on the
Western Front as Bulgaria fell to the invasion of ally General Franchet d'Espery
and his troops.

By instigating a revolt among the Arabs, T.E. Lawrence has been credited with
the March 1917, fall of Baghdad, and in December of that year, Field Marshall
Allenby took Jerusalem The war was beginning to see an end, however, there were
still pockets of resistance which need to be eliminated before total peace could
be restored.

Following their landing in France in June of 1917, General John Pershing and the
1st American Expeditionary Forces were rapidly deployed to the Chateau-Thierry
where it would help to squash a new German offensive.

Perspective Map of the Western Front

Showing the Furthest German Advance (September, 1914)
and the Armistice Line of November II, 1918.

The severely weakening Central Powers had hoped to gain new strength with the
signing of the Brest-Litovsk treaty of 1918. With the resources from the Ukraine
they were hoping to be able to balance, to some degree, the effects of the
allied blockade and concentrate their efforts on the Western Front. This last
ditch effort at being victorious was not to be. The powers of the allied forces.
which grew to include Italy, Portugal and Romania proved to be just too much.

Following the invasion of ally General Franchet d'Esperey, Bulgaria surrendered
on September 30th, followed by Turkey on October 30th. By November 4th the
Austria-Hungary army was disintegrating so badly that their defeat at Vittorio
Veneto forced them into surrendering to the Italian army

By now, the German army had exhausted their resources, her morale had collapsed
and all hopes of a victory had been obliterated. German Chancellor Maximillian,
Prince of Baden accepted President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points as a basis
of a peace negotiation.

Any reservations that may have existed by Germany in the signing of a peace
agreement were nullified after a brief revolution broke out in Germany.
Following this up rise Germany finally signed the armistice on November 11th
1918, which basically ended all hostilities. As per the terms of the armistice,
the German Army was immediately removed from the territory West of the Rhine,
and the previously Brest-Litovsk treaty became void.

World War I officially ended with the signing of the Versailles Treaty on June
28, 1919. The total cost of the 4-year war was astonishing in both manpower and
resources. Of the Central Powers, their total causalities were 37,508, 686 or
57.6 % of their immobilized forces. The Allied Powers who mobilized a total of
42,188,810 troops experienced 52.3% causality or 22,104,209.

Unauthorized Site:
This site and its contents are not affiliated, connected,
associated with or authorized by the individual, family,
friends, or trademarked entities utilizing any part or
the subject's entire name. Any official or affiliated
sites that are related to this subject will be hyper
linked below upon submission
and Evisum, Inc. review.

Please join us in our mission to incorporate America's Four United Republics discovery-based curriculum into the classroom of every primary and secondary school in the United States of America by July 2, 2026, the nation’s 250th birthday. , the United States of America: We The
People. Click Here